May 22, 2014

Events happening today

ALLDAY

22 May 2014

THE INSISTENT IMAGE:
RECURRENT MOTIFS IN THE ART OF SHEPARD FAIREY AND JASPER JOHNS
opens - Thursday, May 22nd
closes - Saturday, July 12th
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The Insistent Image: Recurrent Motifs in the Art of Shepard Fairey and Jasper Johns features new work by Shepard Fairey and a survey of prints made between 1982 and 2012 by Jasper Johns at Universal Limited Art Editions. Both Fairey and Johns recycle graphic elements in the works they produce and in each case these repeated fragments gain new meaning through fresh juxtapositions and associations. Additionally, both artists have the capacity to transform the quotidian into the iconic. Each artist will occupy a separate gallery space, and no attempt is made at comparing their works. Rather, this exhibition demonstrates the power of this strategy of image repetition in the works of these two distinguished American artists.
According to Fairey, his new work is a “celebration and critique of Americana with an emphasis on gas stations, gas and oil logos, and iconography as a part of what literally and metaphorically drives America in good and bad ways.” He will be showing a group of paintings, works on paper, and screen prints within the main gallery space at the Halsey Institute. In conjunction with the Halsey exhibition, he will create a series of large-scale murals in locations throughout Charleston.
Jasper Johns will be represented by a series of sixteen prints made in collaboration with master printmaker Bill Goldston at Universal Limited Art Editions in New York. This selection emphasizes many of Johns’ recurrent motifs and themes over the past 30 years including flags, the face/vase optical illusion, targets, galaxies, gestures from American Sign Language, and fragments of works by famous artists such as Picasso, Holbein, da Vinci, and George Ohr, and others. Through a special arrangement with the artist and ULAE, we are able to borrow some of Johns’ most iconic works for this exhibition.
Johns was longtime friends with William Halsey, the artist for whom the Halsey Institute was named.
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LOCATION:
Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art
College of Charleston
161 Calhoun Street
Charleston, SC 29401
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FREE guided tours are available by appointment.
Contact Lizz Biswell // BiswellL@cofc.edu // 843.953.5957
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To learn more about the exhibition and view images of the work, visit http://halsey.cofc.edu/exhibitions/the-insistent-image-recurrent-motifs-in-the-art-of-shepard-fairey-and-jasper-johns/